Treat brain death as a protocol-driven diagnosis: document the injury, confirm prerequisites, and use validated ancillary tests only when the exam cannot be completed. In children, the exam sequence and observation period matter as much as the findings.

Standard EEG is no longer recommended as an ancillary test because it is plagued by frequent technical inadequacies; Clear structural brain damage must be fully documented; No, neither CT angiography nor magnetic resonance angiography have been clinically validated as reliable ancillary tests for establishing brain death; Apnea test is ideally performed directly by an intensivist or a pulmonologist; Pediatric determinations require two completely independent clinical examinations performed by two separate clinicians, separated by an observation window of at least 12 hours